Handheld vacuum cleaners are well known and have been manufactured and sold by various manufacturers for several years. One such handheld vacuum cleaner is described in EP2040599B, and as marketed by Dyson Limited as model number DC16. A similar vacuum cleaner of the so-called ‘stick-vac’ type is also marketed by Dyson Limited as model number DC35.
The vacuum cleaner of EP2040599B comprises a main body including a motor and fan unit located on the upper side of a handle and a power source in the form of a battery located on a lower side of the handle. The main body is connected to a cyclonic separator which includes a dirty air inlet through which dirt is drawn into the cyclonic separator when the motor and fan unit in the main body is operated. The cyclonic separator unit functions in the usual way to separate dirt from the air flow following which clean air is discharged from the cyclonic separator, through the motor and fan unit and exhaust from the air vents defined in the main body.
Two significant user-related features of the vacuum cleaner of EP2040599B are the mechanism by which the cyclonic separator is emptied and the way in which the main body and the cyclonic separator are joined.
Referring firstly to the joint between the main body and the cyclonic separator, the main body and the cyclonic separator are releasably connectable to each other at a generally rectangular interface. Part of this interface is defined by the cyclonic separator and the other part of the interface is defined by the main body. The two interface parts are engageable with one another in a type of ‘clam shell’ arrangement the interface defining an internal chamber within which an air filter is housed.
The main body interface part includes a tab on a lower portion thereof that is receivable in a receptacle on the interface part of the cyclonic separator. The two interface parts are therefore hinged about the tab and receptacle. The upper part of the cyclonic separator includes a user operated latch which engages with a catch defined on the upper part of the main body. In this way, the interface parts of the main body and the cyclonic separator can be brought together, hinged about the lower tab and cooperating receptacle, and secured to one another with the latch. It is a simple operation for a user to release the part by actuating the latch thereby disengaging the upper portion of the interface parts. However, a disadvantage with this arrangement is that there is a degree of ‘lateral flex’ between the main body and the cyclonic separator which may be noticeable particularly when a significant sideways load is exerted on the dirty air inlet of the cyclonic separator. Flex in a vacuum cleaning device is generally undesirable since it may be perceived by a user as an area of mechanical weakness, or simply an indicator of low quality. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a mechanism which provides a stronger interface between the dust separator and the main body of a handheld vacuum cleaner in particular.
Turning to the mechanism by which the cyclonic separator is emptied, the cyclonic separator has an openable base which is pivoted against the cylindrical wall of the cyclonic separator so that it can swing open. The side of the base opposite the pivot is lockable into a catch. The catch is operated by a user-operated actuator in the form of a slider-button mounted on the main body. The actuator includes a rod which pushes against the base when the actuator is pushed and releases the base so that it is free to swing away from the door. Further, removal of the outer bin of the cyclonic separator is possible, but this requires a user to undo a dedicated catch proximate the lower rim of the bin and physically pull the bin away from the remainder of the cyclonic separator. A more user-friendly mechanism is desired.